


Love & Genius

by MadamRed



Series: One Word Prompts (Tumblr) [9]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Love, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 06:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7790764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed/pseuds/MadamRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One word prompt requested on Tumblr: Love & Genius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love & Genius

**Author's Note:**

> Song fic loosely based on the song "Falling in love" by McFly (which you can listen to [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQwlB7Mo6kw)).

_Everyday feels like a Monday_  
_There is no escaping from the heartache_ __  
_Now I gotta put it back together  
_ _'Cause it's always better late than never_

  
It was a Thursday when Reid was called into work at 3 am for a case. He didn’t care about being woken up in the middle of the night, though. That day marked the one year anniversary of you leaving the team to lead a special mission for the FBI down in Los Angeles. Before you announced your departure, he had been so ready to open up himself to you. He had, actually. Whether he had wanted to or not, you had made yourself a place in his heart and settled there. And then, just like last time, he had suffered from it.

He swore he would forget all about you, but his brain betrayed him by replaying the sound of your laughter when he least expected it, or even bringing up vivid memories of you curled up next to him during a movie night at Garcia’s when a gentle breeze brought with it the smell of your favourite perfume. He felt intoxicated by your ghost, even after a full year of you being absent from his life.

The matter was only made worse when you called the team every once in a while, or when Garcia would update everyone on what was going on with you. He wanted to stop thinking about you, but he just couldn’t. Your presence was somehow stronger now in absence.  
  


_Wishin' I could be in California_  
_I wanna tell ya when I call ya_  
_I could've fallen in love  
__I wish I'd fallen in love_

  
As he sat on the plane travelling to catch yet another serial killer in the opposite coast, his mind was still with you and those late nights at the office, where you would have improvised dinners in the break room which consisted of the little junk food you could get from the vending machines in there. His heart ached to go back to those days. He sighed as he remembered the last night he heard your voice on the phone. He teared up a little bit when you told him of your new assignment, your own tears threatening to fall as you tried to keep a steady voice. You had had no control over it; not even Hotch had managed to persuade the Bureau to allow you to remain in your position at Quantico.  
  


_Out of our minds and out of time_  
_Wishin' I could be with you_  
_To share the view_  
_We could've fallen in love_  
_Woah-oh-oh-oh  
__Woah-oh-oh-oh_

  
When the team returned, the doctor went back to his mind-numbing routine –with the occasional slip of the mind when someone who looked similar to you walked past him on his way to the subway. Lately, whenever Garcia mentioned your name, he would just try and discreetly walk out of the room so as not to know anything about you. Maybe distance could help his heart mend a little faster.

He just needed a distraction, he told himself every morning when he arrived at the office, craving for a new case. His teammates had noticed his change in demeanour and the urgency with which he carried himself to the conference room whenever Hotch called for them; he was also the first one to arrive if the team wasn’t there to begin with. Morgan and JJ always exchanged a look of concern before focusing on the case, and that day was no different. They knew what his friend was doing by trying to distance himself from you and the memories you had all shared together. But, in the process, he was building a wall to keep _them_ away as well.  
  


_Waking up to people talking_  
_And it's getting later every morning_  
_Now I realise it's nearly midday_  
_And I've wasted half my life to throw it away_  
_Saying everyday should be a new day_  
_To make you smile and find a new way  
_ _Of falling in love, yeah, falling in love_

  
So, they told Hotch the minute they got back from the latest case. The bags under Reid’s eyes were getting worse, and he was shutting himself off instead of relying on his friends, on his family. Hotch wanted him to take some time off, which Reid refused to do. Hotch understood his situation and allowed him to continue working on the condition that he would tell someone of his troubles, whether that was a therapist or at least a member of the team.

Until then, only his mum knew of his feelings thanks to their daily letters. Now that he had to tell someone else so as not to lose the only thing that kept him grounded, he chose Morgan as his confidant, since he didn’t fully trust Garcia to keep such a big secret. Morgan listened to him and tried to advise him on how to cope with his heartache, even if he had never felt such a strong connection with someone himself, he wanted to help his friend somehow.  
  


_Out of our minds and out of time_  
_Wishin' I could be with you_  
_To share the view, oh_  
_We could've fallen in love_  
_Woah-oh-oh-oh_  
_Woah-oh-oh-oh_  
_We could've fallen in love_  
_Woah-oh-oh-oh  
_ _Woah-oh-oh-oh_

  
Reid felt some relief by letting one of his best friends know about his feelings towards you, but there was still that nagging voice at the back of his mind that kept telling him to reach out to you. Morgan had also told him that it could help, even if it didn’t erase his memories, he would at least feel connected to you again. He felt strange as he thought of calling you all of a sudden; you had talked in group calls at the office, yes, but never one on one since the night you had told him you were leaving.

A few weeks later, one Saturday morning, Morgan had randomly called him and asked him if he had in fact tried to contact you. He told Reid to stop being _“such a chicken and do it, once and for all”._ Reid was so troubled still by the thought of finally hearing your voice again after such a long bout of silence, he completely missed Garcia’s excited, yet muffled, squeal in the background.

At 1 am that same day, Reid found himself pacing his apartment, which was not exactly rare if he was being honest. However, this time, he was pacing in front of his desk, where his cell phone was. He had texted you over an hour ago to see if you were still awake or even at home, but no answer had come. He didn’t want to go to bed! What if he missed your reply? Or even worse, what if you called him and he didn’t hear it?!  
  


_Sick of waiting, I can't take it gotta tell ya  
_ _Sick of waiting, I can't take it gotta tell ya_

 _I can't take another night on my own, so I take a breath and then I pick up the phone she said, “oh, oh, oh, oh”_  
_She said, “oh, oh, oh, oh”  
_ _She said, “oh, oh, oh, oh”_

  
And then, his phone started ringing, the sound deafening in the middle of the night. He hurriedly took it in both hands, unable to control how badly he was shaking. He took a deep breath and pressed the small green button quickly.

‘Hello?’ he realised then he hadn’t even checked the number that appeared on the screen before he answered.

‘Oh, finally! There you are! Well, hello yourself, Dr Reid! It’s been a while,’ he would recognise your voice anywhere. He smiled involuntarily as he heard a car driving off and the front entrance door opening and closing downstairs.

‘It certainly has,’ his body had stopped shaking as he sat down on his couch, but now he could feel his heart pounding irregularly in his chest.

‘How’s it been, Spence?’ you asked quietly.

‘Tiring,’ he replied instantly. ‘The team is... really not the same without you there.’  
  


_Sick of waiting, I can't take it gotta tell ya_  
_Sick of waiting, I can't take it gotta tell ya  
_ _Sick of waiting I can't take it gotta_

_She said, “oh, oh, oh, oh”_

  
‘Oh, I see, so you only remembered me when you got a little bit more paperwork, huh?’ you teased him, trying to lighten up the mood after his serious comment.

‘What?’ he asked not getting your sarcasm. ‘No, that’s not what I-’ your giggles interrupted him and he allowed a smile to take over his face, until he heard a thump... both on the phone and outside his apartment door. ‘(Y/n)?’  
  


_We could’ve fallen in love_  
_Oh, we could've fallen in love, oh yeah  
_ _Fallen in love, we could've fallen in love_

  
He got up as you remained silent and walked towards his door. He took a peek through the peephole and there you were: looking at the floor, your clothes wrinkled from your five-hour flight to get there and your phone in your right hand, which was now hanging loosely at your side. You were both painfully aware that the only thing separating you then was a piece of wood.

He took the doorknob with his free hand, since he was still holding the phone to his ear, and turned it slowly, afraid that if he made too much noise, you would disappear into thin air just like you had arrived back into life. You were, as usual, the first one to break the awkward silence as the two of you stared at each other’s faces.

‘Hi,’ you smiled, feeling shy and stupid standing there.

‘Hey,’ he said and put his phone in his pocket. ‘What, um, what are you doing here? No, scratch that. How are you? No. Is everything okay? Are you on holiday or are you-’

You put up your hand as you used to do when he started spewing incoherencies, which often happened when he got nervous. Unlike the rest of the team, you loved hearing him tell you fact after fact and were never bored by his quirky side, but this was different.

‘Before I answer all of that, may I come in?’ he nodded and you grabbed your one suitcase.

He closed the door behind him as you turned around to face him once you had dropped your bag on the floor and leaned against the back of the couch.

‘So, are you on holiday or...?’ he trailed off this time, starting with his most important question.

‘Nope. I’m officially back. After completing the mission I was sent out to do, I asked to be transferred back. The moment I got confirmation that my previous position was still there if I wanted it, I... hopped on a plane and came here.’

‘Here as in DC or here as in my front door?’

‘The latter,’ you smiled, as you bit your lower lip. ‘I had to drop everything in order to leave, so I don’t have a flat to get back to, and you know my family lives in a different state. I mean, I could’ve gone to Garcia’s house but...’

‘But...?’ he asked, as he moved forwards and came to stand right in front of you.

‘But,’ you said as you pushed yourself off the back of the couch, ‘I needed to see you first.’  
  


_She said, “oh, oh, oh, oh”_

_We could’ve fallen in love_

  
You looked up at him, since he was at least a head taller than you, and saw the emotion in his eyes go from hope, to surprise, to something you had grown to miss in the year and a half that you had been gone: **love**.

‘Spencer?’ you asked him when the silence became too much for you. You were afraid you had read the clues wrong and that all of this was only wishful thinking on your part –and Morgan’s.

‘I’m sorry, I just... I’m trying to figure out if you’re actually here or if I’m dreaming right now,’ he then mumbled something you couldn’t hear.

‘What was that?’

‘I said that it wouldn’t be the first time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I _were_ dreaming.’

‘I’m definitely here,’ you replied as you took his left hand on yours and put it on your right cheek. ‘What can I do to prove this is real, **genius**?’

He lowered his gaze to your lips and then moved them back up to your eyes. You smirked at the unconscious hint he had given you and closed the gap between you two. He responded after a second of hesitation, and once you came up for air, he said with a small, playful smile:

‘I think I may need a little more convincing, you know?’

You just shook your head and laughed before lowering his head towards yours using his tie. By the end of the second kiss, you could tell that he was sure you were really there. Who would have known that getting a second bite of the cherry could taste this sweet?


End file.
